Latest IRS throws up interesting figures for Hindustan Times and Times Of India

Print industry titans Hindustan Times and The Times of India – both have thrown up some interesting points in the IRS 2003-04 Round 2 results. Observing the readership figures for the all-India market, where in terms of numbers, TOI has a larger figure to boast of; in some cases HT has registered growth.

While the readership figure that all editions of HT recorded in the Round 1 of IRS 2003-04 was 29.47 lac, Round 2 puts it at 31.54 lac – reflecting an increase of 2.07 lac. In contrast to this, from the 72.35-lac readership that TOI recorded in Round 1, the latest round of research brings it down to 70.98 lac.

Sunday issue of both papers, however, don’t represent a markedly different trend. HT again records an increase in numbers by about 2.36 lac, taking the readership to 34.19 lac from 31.83 lac, recorded in Round 1. As for The Sunday Times, on the other hand, a marginal slip in readership, dipping to 75.06 lac from 75.81 lac.

When the Hindi counterparts of the media majors are seen, Hindustan has increased to 79.4 lac from the 73.87 lac that it managed in Round 1, while Navbharat Times has gone down to 27.48 lac in Round 2 from 28.21 lac.

Sunday edition of Hindustan also registers an increase. The issue garners 87.26 lac, indicating an increase of 8.57 lac. Sunday’s Navbharat Times again falls to 30.31 lac from 30.55 lac.

In Delhi – the hottest battleground for both the publications, TOI posts an increase. The daily has grown from 16.47 lac to 18.05 lac. HT too registers an increase here, rising from 15.42 lac to 16.73 lac. Even the Sunday issues witness an increase. While HT grows to 16.86 lac from 15.63 lac, TOI makes it to 17.95 lac – up from the previous 16.52 lac.

However, the positive graphs are not seen for the Hindi editions in the Delhi market. Hindustan and Navbharat Times both register decrease. Where Hindustan falls to 9.48 lac from 9.70 lac, Navbharat Times comes down to 17.73 lac from 18 lac. Sundays too maintain the trend. Hindustan observes a marginal fall, dipping to 10.36 lac from 10.43 lac and Navbharat Times falls to 19.1 lac from 19.65 lac.

If the larger picture is observed, the latest IRS figures suggest that TOI hasn’t been able to throw a strong growth graph. Though, this is not the case with all the publications from the Times’ stable.

Economic Times on weekdays records a positive skew – though marginal, it is up by 32,000 (from 10.12 lac in Round 1 to 10.44 lac in Round 2). The Sunday issue, however, effects a cumulative fall for the financial daily – from 10.4 lac to 10.12 lac. Nonetheless, Maharashtra Times registers a substantial increase. The daily grows to 13.51 lac from 12.46 lac, giving it an increase of 1.05 lac. Sunday issues of the Marathi publication too records growth, moving from 11.79 lac to 13.57 lac.

Coming to the magazines, both Femina and Filmfare indicate a fall vis-à-vis the previous IRS. Femina readership has remarkably gone down by 1.57 lac – recording 9.52 lac as opposed to 11.09 lac of the Round 1. In case of Filmfare, the downtrend registers 83,000 dips to 2,459 from 2,542.